Sacrifice
by superluigi13
Summary: The deadliest competition in history. 36 smashers. All must die. But... there could be a way out... Maybe. But in the end, is it all worth it? My first story.
1. Chapter 1- Roll call

"So you really defeated this Tabuu guy all by yourself?" asked Tails.

"Well, yeah!" replied Sonic casually. "You know how amazing I am!"

"My Sonic's even a hero in Subspace!" said Amy Rose delightedly.

"So you really beat this guy on your own?" said Knuckles the Echidna sceptically.

Sonic looked nervous and awkward.

"You aren't lying, right Sonic?" wondered Amy uncertainly. The blue hedgehog shuffled his feet.

"Well, a couple of other guys chipped in I suppose, but it was definitely my fight" replied Sonic. Tails was getting agitated at the thought of his idol being untruthful and he unconciously levitated a few feet in the air.

"How many people Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic didn't answer straight away. He stood there, evaluating his options carefully.

"How many people Sonic?"asked Knuckles with a smirk on his face and a voice that barely hid the subtle tone of pleasure as he contemplated the fact that he had probably called Sonic's bluff.

"Well, only about...um, 32 others" he replied. He waited for their responses. Knuckles simply stood there grinning, arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, that's still very impressive against...whoever the other person was" said Amy. She gave Knuckles and Tails the evil eyes, as if daring them to say otherwise.

"I don't really know who this Tabuu fella is anyway but if Sonic helped to beat him then that's good enough for me!" cried Tails. Knuckles was astonished that Amy and Tails had both supported Sonic still, so he decided to change tack.

"How do we even know you contributed at all?"

Sonic realised that he had the upper hand this time.

"Why else would I have received an official letter asking me to attend a top-secret meeting to discuss the whole Subspace Emissary incident huh?"

Knuckles didn't even blink.

"Top-secret".

"Oh yeah..."

Master Hand cleared his throat. Do giant floating white gloved hands have throats? A deep and naturally authoritative voice simply projected from the hand while he made accompanying hand gestures with his own body. He had the voice of a natural born leader. Maybe that was how he had got his name? After all, Crazy Hand had the voice of a ... well, crazy person. Master Hand's voice boomed around the whole room (and it was a pretty colossal room, since it had to house 36 people). His voice simply emanated pure power and you just had to listen to whatever he was talking about.

Occupying the grand ballroom of Princess Peach's castle were the 33 smashers who had taken on Tabuu (Nana and Popo counted seperately), Master Hand of course, (who was managing the whole meeting) as well as Toon Link, Jigglypuff the Pokemon, and Wolf O' Donnell of Star Wolf, due to the fact that they were closely linked to the other smashers who fought Tabuu.

"I'd like to call this meeting to order!" boomed Master Hand over the deafening chatter. The ballroom instantly fell silent.

"I assume you are all aware of the reason you are here?" asked the hand. Three voices responded.

"I was too busy managing Star Wolf so I'm not too sure on the details."

"I was honing my combat skills so that when Link returned from that mysterious forest I could finally beat him in a fight. I've only heard little bits that Link and Zelda told me."

"Jiggly?"

Master Hand nodded.

"Of course. I hope the other members won't mind if I explain the recent events briefly to those who were absent."

Most of the smashers muttered that that was fine, and they started conversing with each other in hushed tones.

"It all began with the Shadow Bug army and the Subspace Bombs. Basically all or most of these smashers found themselves either being attacked by Primids, or witnessing a Subspace bomb being detonated. These smashers all discovered various leads and started to follow them to source, all the while bumping into other smashers following the same leads, congregating into a few large groups. However, three of the smashers"(Wario, Bowser and Ganondorf looked particularly guilty)"were going around turning smashers into trophies. Eventually every smasher with the exception of Wario, Ganondorf, Bowser, King Dedede, Luigi, Ness and Sonic, launched an all out assault, opening the entrance into the world of Subspace. A powerful being known only as Tabuu was using the Subspace Bombs to transport random areas into Subspace for evil intentions. However, when he was about to be confronted, he unleashed his most powerful move, which turned every smasher into a trophy. However, thanks to King Dedede's quick thinking and phenomenal planning, a small elite group survived. King Dedede, Luigi, and Ness, aided by Kirby managed to revive everybody, who banded together, got through the Great Maze and to the final confrontation of Tabuu. Tabuu was about to unleash the ultimate move again when it was permanently disabled by Sonic. This blessed occurence only...er , occurred because the Green Hill Zone where he had been at the time, had been consumed by a Subspace bomb, therefore pulling it into Subspace. These 33 smashers fought bravely and ultimately defeated Tabuu once and for all."

Toon Link, Wolf and Jigglypuff were understandably overwhelmed by this barrage of information but after being allowed a few minutes to think about it, they eventually understood the events that had occurred in Subspace. The other smashers realised that the tedious explanation was over and immediately stopped talking.

"We will officially begin the meeting with roll call. First, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser" read out Master Hand.

"I'm a-here, a-everybody!"

"Don't forget a-me, Luigi!"

"Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom here!"

"Here" said Bowser with a voice that sounded like grating glass.

"Mr Game. & Watch?"

There followed a series of beeps and various strange mechanical sounds.

"Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong?"

"Here" said Donkey Kong in a deep voice.

"Here!" said Diddy Kong excitedly.

"Fox, Falco and Wolf?"

"Star Fox rules!"

"I agree with Fox, though it should be called Star Falco."

"Hmpf, Star Wolf's where it's at!"

"Link, Zelda, Ganondorf and Toon Link?"

"I'm only here for my Zelda!"

"But Link, I only came because you wanted to!"

"Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing is just a stupid waste of time?"

"Toon Link, ready for... yeah!"

"Yoshi?"

"Yoshi!"

"Hey, stop copying me!"

"Yoshi!"

"Oh, yes right, moving on. Red, Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Lucario?"

"Me, Squirtle, Charizard and Ivysaur are ready!"

"Pika!"

"Jiggly!"

"My intelligence has grown tenfold and instead of being limited to primitive repetition of my name, I am now capable of conversing in fully articulate conversations. With this new development in Pokemon intelligence, the world will be revolutionised, starting with me being regarded as a full equal in the eyes of any Pokemon trainer who happens across me. This will help to drastically deepen the bond between human and Pokemon and thus improve the lives of both parties."

Everybody in the room gasped at the implications of Lucario's speech. Except for Master Hand, who couldn't care less, and ploughed onwards with roll call without missing a beat.

"Wario?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Samus?"

"Here, though regrettably without my Power Suit."

"Captain Olimar?"

"Present, with Pikmin too."

"Nana and Popo Climber?"

"Here!"

"Here!"

"Captain Falcon?"

"Oh yeah, awesome as always!"

"Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"You did kinda undermine my essential role in the Tabuu battle, but I s'pose I'll let you off."

"Solid Snake?"

"Present. Protocol has been observed. However we have T32 in the B12. We have authorisation to use C18 for the breach of D32 in F14."

"Bingo!" cried Sonic, who had left, grabbed a bingo board and started playing with Captain Falcon and Link as a joke. Snake looked about ready to murder the blue hedgehog then and there for making fun of his military terms and codes. To defuse the situation, Master Hand continued with roll call.

"King Dedede, Kirby and Meta Knight?"

"I'm here" said Dedede in a very loud deep voice to rival Master Hand's.

"Kirby here!"

"Meta Knight here, ready to make use of my superior swordsmanship."

"Lucas and Ness?"

"Ness here, and uh, Lucas is too shy but he's here too."

"Ike and Marth?"

"Ike and the Great Aether at your service."

"Marth here."

"R.O.B?"

More mechanical sounds much like those of Mr Game & Watch.

"Pit?"

"I didn't wanna come but Palutena made me so here I am I guess."

"Well now that roll call is finally complete, we can begin at last the official meeting."

_I'm almost there. They'll all pay for what they did to me. They underestimated me and sheer strength in numbers is all that tipped the fight their way. They'll pay... They'll all pay..._

"Tabuu's essence was completely destroyed and those people who knowingly aided Tabuu (Ridley, Petey Piranha, Porky, Galleom, Duon and Rayquaza)have been locked away in a high security prison. And Wario, Ganondorf and Bowser got away with a warning and 50 hours of community service."

"How come they got away with it?" asked Link.

"Because in the end, they changed sides of their own free will and contributed to Tabuu's defeat" answered Master Hand.

"Funny you should mention that!" came a loud voice, seemingly from nowhere.

And before anybody could speculate about this, a thin laser beam passed straight through the ceiling and hit Master Hand. The hand floated, completely immobile save for a slight shaking. The beam had initially hit his thumb (knocking it clean off in the process) but now blue energy was coursing through him. Then there was suddenly some kind of internal explosion which sent Master Hand flying across the room towards the secret weapons cabinet. Ironically the weapons cabinet had been made for safety in case of attacks but it provided quite the opposite. It had a thumbprint scanner to allow access, and it was coded to accept the prints of every smasher as well as Master Hand's, and with the exception of Wario, Bowser and Ganondorf for obvious precautionary measures. Despite million to one odds, Master Hand's thumb landed clean on the scanner. It opened and Master Hand effectively skewered himself on a sword. The whole group froze in shock. Then the ceiling dissolved and Tabuu floated in.


	2. Chapter 2- The Contest

What was Tabuu doing here? Master Hand said that Tabuu had been completely destroyed! Were they in cahoots somehow? But Tabuu killed Master Hand! What was going on!?

"Silence" ordered Tabuu. The words flowed through his lips, reverberating around the whole room, and sounding like a melody of different voices. Of course Sonic couldn't keep quiet.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he yelled.

"SILENCE!" bellowed Tabuu. The ballroom fell into complete silence. And Tabuu explained.

"I was going to have a wonderful new world, constructed by me, for me. A fantastic multitude of different places, all comprised into one world. My world".

"Hurry up and get to the point!" yelled Link impatiently.

"I said SILENCE"!

Tabuu fired a laser beam from his eye randomly into the crowd. Everybody backed away from the smasher who had been hit. R.O.B clunked to the ground. Earlier on, when he was known as the Ancient Minister, he had seemingly died, only to burst out alive and well. Unfortunately, this time R.O.B really was dead.

Even the smartest minds in the room were having trouble keeping up with these events.

"That was just a small view of my unstoppable powers. You see, I wasn't defeated; my essence poured into an abyss. I bided my time. Soon I was alive and well but I waited. I got stronger. Even I could not realise just how much more powerful I was going to get".

"And just how much more powerful did you get?" asked Lucario.

"Ah, now ordinarily I'd kill you for interrupting me but that question was a great lead-up for what I am about to say. Brace yourselves. With my mind, I can do anything".

Most people's brains were too confused to even make any sense out of the situation but Sonic piped up.

"What d'ya mean, anything?"

"I mean anything. I could make the Eiffel Tower collapse right now. I could make every single one of you drop dead. I could make the whole universe and everything in it, just... disappear. My skills are second only to God! I could treble the amount of humans in the world, just by thinking it! I can do anything! But I don't want to. I want revenge; I want to hold... a little competition."

"What kind of competition?"

"You interrupted. Now let me give another demonstration, on you for interrupting; just to impress upon all of you exactly what I am capable of."

Red gulped.

"I'm sorry for interrupting..."

The apology fell on deaf ears. Then the most random event in history took place. It went something like this. Captain Falcon walked over to Tabuu; a table appeared out of nowhere which Falcon teleported onto; the table levitated over to Red; Falcon's arm detached cleanly from the shoulder joint and touched Red on the shoulder. Red exploded, showering the onlookers with ice cream and matchsticks. Everyone turned away from the gruesome display except for Falcon who snapped out of whatever trance he had been put in and whispered "oh my..."

Tabuu continued calmly.

"As you can see, I can do anything I want. And I want you all dead. But not yet. I'm entering you all in my little tournament, per se. You see, the thing that enrages me is that I only lost because it was 33 against 1! I could have taken any 10 of you, or even any 20, and come out on top. So I'm initiating a contest: you all go in, only the best survive; and then I battle the winner or winners head to head, using only the powers which I possessed back then before you defeated me. Any questions thus far?"

"Me, Wolf and Jigglypuff weren't even there, what's happening to us?" asked Toon Link.

"Well, you see, you are closely entwined with the other smashers here, and it was just pure chance that you weren't in on the whole thing. I will not be lenient, you three are going in too."

"Hey, what about us?!" yelled Wario. "Me, Bowser and Ganondorf were loyal to you!"

"Hmm, I suppose you were. Before you joined everyone else in attacking me! You three will be going in as well. In fact, no more questions regarding whether or not you're in it. All 36 of you, well 34 now, are going in."

There was a stunned silence.

"Well let's get on to business shall we? In Round 1 you will all be put into a random arena. Two of you will be in each arena. The two will be selected randomly. All you need to do to get past this round is to kill your opponent."

There were a few scattered gasps.

"Let me phrase this differently. When one dies, the other will continue. So if your opponent trips and breaks their own neck then you still proceed to Round 2. Oh, and one more thing: if any of you try to make some stupid childish pact not to kill each other then you will both die. If you kill yourself to let the other win, then they will die too. Simply kill your opponent. Are you ready to begin?

Not a sound was heard as the smasher's brains struggled to grasp all this information.

"Well, then let's begin.

The 34 smashers found themselves in a huge stadium. The stadium had hundreds of seats and the smashers were all on one row. Each seat in front had a miniature TV with 17 channels. Each one however had a plain white screen. Tabuu's voice came from nowhere.

"This is the Waiting Room. While you're waiting for other people to finish their battles, you can kick back, relax, rest and watch their miserable demise in high definition. It's great! Each channel tunes in to a different battle. Now, we've wasted far too much time. Although I could just make a day last 50 hours or something. Anyway, in a moment you will all be teleported randomly to your random arena to face your random opponent... randomly. Well, when I say in a moment, I actually mean now. So if you have any loved ones who you wish to exchange last words with then... you'll just have to hope the both of you win your respective battles. Begin."

And with that, Round 1 began.

"Woah"! yelled Marth.

He'd teleported right on top of an underground bullet train. Now he was half-falling, half-rolling along the top. About halfway along he managed to stab his blade through a section of the roof. Judging from the screams coming from within, Tabuu had just dumped him on a completely random train. Then the screams stopped abruptly.

"I've altered their brainwaves so that nothing that either of you do will be noticed by anyone. Even if you were to stab them they wouldn't notice."

"Well that's just fantastic. I love killing innocent civilians!" cried Marth slightly deliriously.

"I'm not supposed to be talking to you. Just turn around, face your opponent and fight!" Tabuu's voice came seemingly from nowhere.

"Yeah, I'm working on it!" yelled Marth.

"Oh holy Bulborbs..."

Even when faced with danger, Captain Olimar never raised his voice to more than a mutter. He had located his opponent instantly, due to the fact that they had both been put on the highest observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. Just Olimar's luck that he'd been put against a huge wall of pure ape muscle. Of course Donkey Kong simply flicked the captain and knocked him off the side. His nimble fingers managed to grab the railing as he fell. Now he was dangling from the railing without enough upper body strength to climb up. Maybe it was partly because of the purple Pikmin. He had brought 3 of them, a purple, a blue and a red, all of which were presently clinging to his legs. Donkey Kong approached the railing; there was a twinkle of sadness in his eyes before he attacked with all his strength. Olimar had no choice but to let go. Donkey Kong ploughed right through the side instead. Olimar freefell for a moment, then all the breath was driven out of his lungs as he slammed onto another deck halfway down the tower. The Pikmin however, went without a scratch because something broke their fall... Olimar. The little strength left in the captain was crushed by the purple Pikmin. Donkey Kong landed on his feet, perfectly fine. The Pikmin whimpered and hid in Olimar's pockets. With his last vestiges of strength Olimar desperately tried to crawl away, to buy himself just one more second of life. A furry ape hand closed around his throat. Donkey Kong lifted the captain up to face him.

"Sorry for this" grunted Donkey Kong. Olimar felt the hand close tighter, his vision blurred and he was in the worst pain he'd ever experienced. The Pikmin fired themselves out of makeshift slingshots fashioned from the lining of his pockets. The red and blue did next to nothing, bouncing off of DK and back onto Olimar. The purple however dealt a powerful blow. Still holding the captain (though no longer choking him) DK staggered backwards and his sheer size and weight took them right off the edge. He lost his grip on Olimar who landed in a tree. He fell through the many branches and finally hit the ground unconscious. His suit put him into critical life support. He was alive, but even the smallest blow could finish him off. DK hit the ground with enough force to crush a tank like a tin can. He climbed to his feet, fur matted with blood. Pikmin are known for their lack of emotion, but what they were feeling now was pure rage. The red and blue swung the purple like in a hammer toss. DK had no time to react before he was knocked into a pond. Then, a miracle occurred. The one blue Pikmin, completely alone felt fury flood through him and he channelled this seething rage. The whole pond was thrown into a frenzy. The ape struggled to keep above the churning water as it tossed him to and fro. A miniature whirlpool formed and kept DK under. At the last second he burst up and in one hit, killed the red and blue Pikmin. The purple spun around in the whirlpool gathering speed, before launching at full power. It slammed into Donkey Kong's head- there were dual cracks. Two skulls were broken on impact. The purple landed next to its dead brethren. Each Pikmin was glad that they had protected their saviour, and died happy. Donkey Kong did not.

"Well, that was unexpected..."came Tabuu's voice.

"But I suppose your performance wasn't without its merits, so well done Olimar. Oh yes, you're out cold. One moment."

Olimar's eyes opened instantly and he was fully conscious, feeling strong and refreshed.

"All with my mind" gloated Tabuu. "Healing the contestants is the least I can do."

"Well thanks" muttered Olimar. "Where are my Pikmin?"

"Ah, you see...they died. They killed Donkey Kong for you though.

Olimar gulped.

"So it's just me as an individual from now on."

"I'll take you to the waiting room. I recommend channel 6, it's particularly exciting."

Meta Knight threw his sword at Marth, who was distracted while talking to Tabuu. Meta Knight was using his powerful wings to fly above the train, therefore having his hands free. The tip of the blade scraped a thin layer of skin from Marth's cheek as it flew past. Marth yelled. Meta Knight flew past Marth at the speed of light and caught the sword in midair, then twirled around to face his opponent.

"Take this!" called Marth.

He got to his feet, managed to run a few steps and promptly fell over. He tumbled head over heels and dropped down out of sight between two carriages. Meta Knight hesitantly flew closer. Marth was somehow hanging on by pushing his feet against one carriage and his back against the other.

"I apologise in advance for this" muttered Meta Knight before swooping in to seal the kill.

"Not today!" cried Marth. With both hands he thrust his sword upwards. Only Meta Knight's amazing reaction time saved him from getting impaled. MK decided to fly above the train again and throw his sword. As he ascended, Marth jumped onto him. Before the bat knew what was happening, Marth was comfortably clinging to him. Blades were useless now. Meta Knight could hit himself and Marth was in no position to be drawing his blade. MK decided on a more effective way. Marth cursed as he realised his opponent's plan. Meta Knight flew towards a horizontal stone support column in a straight line so that he would go under but Marth would hit it. At the last second Marth performed a powerful jump right over the obstacle and right back onto Meta Knight. However, he was just clinging on by his fingertips now.

"How did you make that jump?" cried MK.

"Oh, no reason, just that my jumping skills improved in the Subspace Emissary incident when I was forced to jump down a canyon with Ike and a certain circular flying bat thing!"

Meta Knight groaned. It would have been hard enough to kill him without any prior knowledge of him. But now the idiot had to bring that up? And in that tone? As if he, Meta Knight were a traitor? And with these thoughts flying through his head, it's no wonder what happened next. The train had gone into a tunnel which meant that instead of being above the train, they were now on a beeline for a solid wall. Marth was paying a lot more attention and decided to make the crash a lot more advantageous in his own favour. He pulled back with all his weight so that Meta Knight took the full brunt of the impact and dropped like a stone. He hit the ground with Marth still on his back. Before either of them could do anything, bright headlights burst into view.

"Tabuu, what's going on?! How can there be another train so quickly?!"

"Remember, I'm doing this for my own entertainment. It's boring if you just stab Meta Knight now. But another train makes it a lot more... interesting."

"You little..." the remainder of Marth's statement was drowned out by the thunderous roar of the train's engine as it approached.

Olimar watched the dramatic events of the Marth and Meta Knight battle unfold with bated breath. He closed his eyes as he heard the train engine. He heard a deafening slam. The captain didn't dare open his eyes. The train had clearly hit someone. But who? Olimar opened his eyes and saw...


	3. Chapter 3- Snake & A Train

Time went to a standstill around Meta Knight as the train thundered towards them. They were literally seconds away from getting smashed to a pulp and there was no way to get out of its path in time. Fear flooded through his mind. As well as a high risk idea. The bat considered it. Marth was frozen in shock but he was still clinging tightly to the spherical steel contender. Meta Knight's idea was very risky but he felt confident in his abilities However, if he survived then so did Marth. Meta Knight groaned. It was the only way. This whole 'train' of thought went through his mind so fast that it could have beaten the Flash in a race. If .. the Flash was a ... train of ... thought. OK, bad analogy. Before he could change his mind, Meta Knight launched himself forwards. When he was barely a metre away from the windscreen he arced his sword at the speed of light, cutting a circle into the glass. Then Meta Knight took the full force of the impact. Marth flew the whole length of the rather long and spacious carriage and landed sprawled across the back seats. Meta Knight landed at the front. The train was completely deserted save for the two contenders. They would both have probably just laid there several minutes were it not for the fact that both swords were no longer in their sheaths, rather they were piled in the dead centre of the carriage, glinting tantalisingly. Marth succumbed to the temptation instantly; he leapt to his feet and sprinted for the metallic treasure trove. Meta Knight was bleeding in several places but after a few seconds he was soaring towards the weapons with his powerful wings. Meta Knight was faster but Marth was closer. They gritted their teeth, staring each other down. They were both exactly two metres away...

"Stay still you coward!" yelled Snake as yet another of his grenades yielded no results. His opponent was cowardly. Unfortunately he was also very quick and agile. Another reason that Snake hadn't already emerged victorious was that they happened to be in a huge marketplace, with stalls full to bursting with items providing lots of cover for his opponent. He was practically spoilt for choice. Snake wasn't worried in the slightest that he might lose. His opponent may be very difficult to finish off but he certainly wasn't capable of killing the soldier. It was a game of cat and mouse. The mouse might be able to hide, but the cat would eventually win. Snake had almost no qualms about murder. It was survival of the fittest. And Snake was sure that he was the fittest. Though he was slightly uncomfortable to be killing someone so obviously weaker than himself. At least the marketplace was deserted. Snake looked around; his enemy was nearby, he was sure of it. Then he noticed a shoe poking out from behind a stack of boxes. As quietly as possible he pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it at the last second. Somehow his opponent realised and ran with a "yow!"

The explosion was still sufficient enough to blast him through the air. Before Snake could capitalise on it, his opponent scrambled to his feet and dashed away, despite several wounds. Snake groaned. He pulled out his missile launcher and fired. His adversary was unprepared; the missile hit the ground at his feet, blasting him through the air and into a large clothes shop. Despite the abundance of clothes racks cluttering up the shop and obscuring vision, Snake grinned. A hit like that should have rendered unconsciousness at the very least.

Mr Game & Watch somehow knocked Ike aside by conjuring yet another random object from nowhere. This one somewhat resembled a turtle. Ike yelled in frustration. How the hell was he supposed to defeat some 2D logic defying blob?! He was just a line segment when faced from the side and even when he was facing forwards it messed with his depth perception! Yet another sword strike missed when Game & Watch moved like lightning. How did he do that? He was so fast you could barely see him move. Unfortunately Game & Watch was very weak so instead of finishing Ike off, he was reduced to battering him around, almost like he was toying with him. And there was nothing Ike could do about it. Until he just happened to get one lucky hit in. Game & Watch's left leg was sliced clean off. Shadow bugs leaked out and melted on the floor. G&W seemed confused and frightened. These feelings were somehow conveyed across his almost blank face. He looked so pitiful that Ike hesitated. He might be tough, but he wasn't heartless. He steeled himself. This was no time for weakness. It was kill or be killed.

"Sorry little guy. But it's you or me."

Ike brought the sword down, killing his opponent instantly.

"Rest in peace" he muttered.

Marth knew Meta Knight would get there first so at the last second he barrel-rolled underneath a row of seats. He waited with bated breath. Meta Knight was nowhere to be seen. Neither were the swords so he must have retrieved them.

"Damn damn damn damn damn" muttered Marth. Chances were he wasn't getting out of there alive. A sword plunged through the seat next to him. Then the other blade stabbed down millimetres from his face. Marth couldn't suppress a gasp. Realising he'd given away his position, Marth scampered around under the seats in an erratic roundabout way until he finally decided he'd lost Meta Knight. His voice sounded from the far end of the carriage.

"Marth, I'm sorry, I've won. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be. I swear I'll finish you quickly."

Marth slowly rose from under the seat. Meta Knight drifted over and wielded a blade.

"Goodbye."

Marth ducked under the strike, kicked Meta Knight backwards and dashed into the bathroom, bolting it shut behind him. Meta Knight just seemed irritated. He stuck a blade through the gap between frame and door, and lifted up the latch. The bathroom appeared to be empty and the window was open. Meta Knight yelled and dashed over to it, looking for Marth. Who jumped out from his hiding place behind the door, snatched his sword back and exited, slamming the door hastily behind him. He then used the sword to jam the door shut. Proving himself to be the epitome of improvisation, Marth wrenched the brake lever out of its place, switched it with the sword, (so that the brake lever was jamming the door shut and his sword was back in his hand). Meta Knight was unable to exit via the window because the train had gone into a tunnel. Demonstrating outstanding athletic prowess, Marth clambered through the hole in the windscreen, perching right on the front. He brandished the sword. As soon as the train exited the tunnel, Marth threw the sword into the track rail and leapt off onto the platform. The train was completely derailed, smashing headlong into another train going in the opposite direction, demolishing both trains in a gargantuan fiery explosion that would have made _The Avengers_ jealous. Meta Knight died from impact, shrapnel, being speared on his own sword, being blown apart and his ashes were subsequently cremated.

"Well that was eventful" said Tabuu.

Luigi woke suddenly. He was lying behind a clothes stand? Then he remembered Snake. And noticed Snake. Aiming a missile launcher at him. Luigi bolted so fast you could practically see the dust cloud. Snake groaned. If the stupid Italian had just woken up a few seconds later... no matter, his adversary had run right into a corner. Luigi gulped as Snake approached, aiming the missile launcher. He pulled the trigger. At the speed of light Luigi grabbed a support pole from a clothes stand and threw it with all his accuracy and strength. Which wasn't a lot. But nonetheless, his aim was true and the makeshift weapon struck Snake's missile just as it emerged from the barrel. Luigi was blasted into a changing room. The explosion was deafening. Luigi peeked out nervously. Snake was dead. No doubt about it. Maybe it had something to do with the blood coating the walls. Something touched his foot and Luigi yelped and dived for cover. It was a grenade which hadn't been set off. Luigi hesitated, then pocketed it. And for such a small action, it had more severe implications than anyone could possibly imagine. Whether for better or for worse remains to be seen.


	4. Chapter 4- The Warehouse

Fire exploded around Pit, knocking him to the ground. He should have been at a huge advantage; being as they were outdoors in a beautiful picturesque park; much akin to those in movies where golden retrievers and their respective owners frolic about and throw and catch frisbees, having a fantastic time. Pit was not having a good time. Zelda seemed to have more powers than Superman. Whenever he went up for a melee attack with his dual blades, she instantly teleported to another part of the park. Then she would attack from afar by conjuring _exploding fireballs_ to hit him with. When Pit tried tried this trick with Palutena's bow, the princess summoned a magical shield to protect her. His own shield was of no use, as the fireballs arced right over it. She knew all his abilities off by heart; something unorthodox was required. He loosed an arrow before quickly hefting his shield with pinpoint accuracy. Zelda blocked the arrow instantly before getting hit by the shield. The force was so great that she was lifted off her feet; she crashed down about five metres away. Pit took to the skies and by the time Zelda got up, there was no sign of him. She got to her feet steadily, looking around edgily. Pit performed his second smart attack; an arrow thudded into the ground next to Zelda. She panicked and ran; the second arrow stabbed into the hem of her dress, pinning it to the ground. She promptly fell flat on her face. Pit couldn't bear to be cruel. He wanted this over as quickly as possible- he split his bow into blades, threw them and closed his eyes. All that could be heard were two thuds. Pit kept his eyes closed and sighed.

"Watch-a the moustache!"

The tip of the famous plumber's moustache was singed as he narrowly dodged a burst of lightning from the diminutive yellow mouse Pokemon. Mario's evasive manouevre put him in a dangerous situation as he wobbled on the edge of the girder. Perhaps some information regarding location is needed. Pikachu and his Italian adversary had appeared right atop a towering construction site. Which Mario had just fallen off of.

Marth stared at the screen in the Waiting Room with awe. Ike was next to him and Luigi and Olimar were sitting silently in seperate parts of the stadium. Marth exclaimed "holy crap!" Look how tall that construction site is! Even Chuck Norris couldn't survive a fall from there!"

"Who's Chuck Norris?" asked Ike.

"No idea but he sounds like some kind of unstoppable ultra-powerful being."

King Dedede lumbered around the warehouse, searching for his opponent. He wasn't unduly worried, not many people could defeat someone as powerful as him. That giant spiky shelled turtle might give him a run for his money though. He was relieved when he discovered his enemy. The little boy had run up behind him and started clubbing him in the back. He recognised him as Ness. He remembered him as one of those who had helped him save those who had been trophified. It broke his heart to have to kill such a small and innocent boy. He raised his mallet sadly and swung it down. Ness danced nimbly out of the way.

"Stay still now, it'll all be over soon" said Dedede, attempting a soothing, gentle voice. In Dedede's opinion it was a reasonable enough request but instead of obliging, Ness blasted a small jet of flame right into his belly. It dissipated on impact and dealt minimal damage. Dedede was knocked backwards slightly. Then Ness whacked him in the stomach. The two slight forces made Dedede overbalance and he fell flat on his back. Before Ness could attack him while he was down, he kicked the small boy as hard as he could. Ness was sent skidding along the floor at high speed. To dodge containers and other clutter, he shot a burst of PK fire so that the force propelled him out of the way. This next proceeding must be described in high detail in order to make sense of it. Ness was skidding towards a forklift from the side. The lift part was raised into the air. Ness was slowing down now, so he got to his feet so that he was skidding along while crouching to keep his balance. He leapt into the air so high and far he was almost like a bird. He soared into the air, kicked off from the top of the forklift and somehow propelled himself right up onto a tall outer railing. Not even the most skilled parkour masters could have performed a stunt like that. On his landing he almost fell off the edge but steadied himself just in time. Such a fall would be death on impact. Ness stood there waiting as Dedede climbed the nearest set of steel steps and ascended to the balcony that ringed around the vast storage warehouse.

"PK Pulse!" cried Ness.

A bright orb of pure pulsating power propelled itself perfectly towards Dedede. At the last second he pulled a Waddle Dee from the colossal mysterious realm known otherwise as the interior of his robe, and tossed it into the orb. The small bouncy bipedal dropped to the ground and never moved again. And the resulting battle for the ages was never matched in intensity for many years. Except for every other battle. Mostly they were far away from each other; Ness using PK Thunder, Fire and Pulse to give him the edge. He also nimbly dodged the Gordos flung through the air at high speed. King Dedede avoided these PSI attacks by tossing Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos into them because he would be otherwise unable to dodge them in time. He was down to his last projectile. He got a lucky hit in with the 'Doo and knocked Ness over. Just as Ness got up, Dedede swung his mallet with all his power, giving a direct hit. Ness should have died, but as it was, he blocked it with his baseball bat and it didn't break on impact. But the power made Ness soar across the length of the warehouse, slam into the wall and land groaning on the railing opposite. And there he lay for several minutes as King Dedede dashed over to him as fast as his short, stubby legs could carry him. Needless to say, it took a while. Ness clambered unsteadily to his feet. To be faced with a huge blast of energy roaring towards him.


End file.
